The “Unapologetically Jewish” finalists on stage at the Weitzman. (Photo credit: Stephen Silver)

By Stephen Silver

The Unapologetically Jewish contest launched last year, under the auspices of Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media, as what PJFM described as “a national social media contest aimed at finding and highlighting unabashed Jewish positivity.”

The contest was the brainchild of Elaine Lindy, PJFM’s presenting sponsor, who described the contest to Philadelphia Jewish Exponent as an opportunity to bring “fun, energy, excitement and joy” to online Jewish discussion, especially at a time in our history when such things are too often in short supply.

This year, for its second iteration, Lindy’s daughter Ariel took a more active role, telling Jewish Exponent that she was “blown away” by the quality of the competitors. She also joked that she enjoyed getting to “watch a lot of Instagrams and pretend that it’s work.”

The Unapologetically Jewish competition came to a close on Sept. 10 at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, at an event called the “Mazel Tov Moment.” The nine finalists appeared and mingled with guests before giving brief presentations, and the winners were crowned.

The winner of the Social Impact First Place award was Arizona-based Grace Guentzel, known as @yourhistorygal, who shares lessons about Jewish history on Instagram.

“It meant a lot to me just being able to share these unique Jewish histories and Jewish stories, and being trusted with these,” Guentzel said. She appreciated the contest for “getting to expand my creative abilities, as well.”

Taking the prize for Social Impact Second Place was Yakov Binyamin Turmelle, a photographer and photojournalist who focuses on the Jewish experience.

“There are so many rich, beautiful, challenging, and inspiring stories from our people that I feel a lot of journalism, unfortunately, misses,” he said. “It doesn’t always have to be the most sexy, or the most violent, or the most heartbreaking.”

And winning the “Audience Favorite” award was Zevi Slavin, @seekersofunity, who often goes to surprising places and opens dialogue with people. In the presentation, he shared one video of himself appearing at a pro-Palestinian protest and sitting down with a protester to find common ground.

The competitors included Jews from around the country and all walks of life.

“This contest really expanded my creative ability with my content,” Michael Valdes, whose project is called “Hot Jewish Energy,” said on the panel. Valdes focuses on videos paying tribute to “hot Jews,” one of whom is David Corenswet, the Jewish Philadelphia native who played Superman in this year’s movie.

Danielle Goldstein, a modern Orthodox woman, makes videos about “Jewish content for the average goy,” and shared a video in which she debated modesty standards when it comes to what to wear to the beach.

Another Danielle, Danielle Brody, makes videos about “Jewish Pride through cartoons,” and her video in the presentation featured a discussion with her Israeli fiancé about whether their wedding in Israel will feature the Horah.

Yohai Greenfeld, who performs in drag under the name Abbi G’zunt, delivers Torah commentaries while dressed in full drag.

Jordan Berman is behind “Stars of the Tribe,” a social media project that also sells merchandise and is dedicated to featuring “tough Jews,” including professional athletes. Among those featured is Dolph Schayes, the Jewish NBA star of the 1950s and ’60s whose jersey has been retired by the 76ers.

Berman was inspired by the negative messages sometimes faced by his college-age sons to provide a positive message about Judaism.

“I’ve spent a lot of time, I feel like, being on defense, as a Jew, as a father of two young, proud Jewish men who are in college,” Berman said. “For the series ‘Tough Jews’ … I profile men and women who are champions for Jews on and off the field of play, or the battlefield. … We mustn’t take the lead of our haters who like to see us as victims, or victimizers, but rather we put forth the narrative that Jews are victors.”

Stephen Silver is a Broomall-based freelance writer.